


Puzzles

by PastaAfterDark



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-02-12
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:09:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28475970
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PastaAfterDark/pseuds/PastaAfterDark
Summary: Once Shikamaru figures something out, he can’t stop thinking about it. And so one day, only a few weeks after he entered academy with the other young students, Shikamaru finally breaks down and asks his father, “Why doesn’t anyone just tell Naruto about the nine-tailed fox sealed inside him?”
Comments: 52
Kudos: 70





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is not a new fic. Instead, this is the first Naruto fic I ever wrote but never posted anywhere. I wrote it in the summer of 2017 after mainlining a bunch of the most popular Naruto fanfics in the fandom, and because of that, it's completely full of tropes. Just everything you could imagine stuffed into one little fic. But somehow I still find it completely entertaining, and it feels like a great way to start off 2021 to share this with you. Just be warned - this is going to be very different from my current style, but I hope you'll enjoy it anyways. :3
> 
> There are currently around 21 chapters but they are shorter than my usual chapter length. I’ll be posting them weekly on Fridays as I clean it up a bit. I am trying to sort them out as I post them, because I originally just threw chapters in all willy-nilly without really worrying about proper chapter endings, so the chapter count might change. :P
> 
> I'm probably not going to be doing much otherwise in the way of editing or new writing for this. For the first chapter at least, I’m going to post it as-is, even if I wish I could come up with a better title than the original one… I might rework the final few chapters just a tad, because it seriously gets bizarre. X'D But maybe not. We'll see how I feel when we get there.
> 
> Also!! This will not affect the timeline on updates to [Dreams of Leaves and Sand](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14936417/chapters/34604963)! So don’t worry about that.
> 
> Anyways, I hope you enjoy it, even if it ends up going a bit off the rails. (Especially towards the end. Just you wait!!) As always, thanks for reading, and I hope 2021 is a better year for all of us. ♥︎
> 
> * * *

Once Shikamaru figures something out, he can’t stop thinking about it. And so one day, only a few weeks after he entered academy with the other young students, Shikamaru finally breaks down and asks his father, “Why doesn’t anyone just tell Naruto about the nine-tailed fox sealed inside him?” 

His father merely blinks once in obvious surprise before muttering something that sounded like “Damn nosy kid,” but Shikamaru knows he isn’t really supposed to know words like that yet, so he thinks it best to ignore it.

They are facing each other across a shogi board, and even at his age, Shikamaru can play this game at an adult level, and he knows his father fears he will get bored of it, as he does most other things. His father pretends to contemplate the placement of a piece before he answers, and Shikamaru realizes just how much he had surprised his father.

“What do you think of Naruto then?” His father finally asks, and Shikamaru frowns, thinking that he isn’t going to get a straight answer out of this.

“Why does that matter? He’s kind of annoying, but I don’t think he’d be so bad if people just gave him a chance.” Shikamaru picks up a piece of his own and makes a decisive move. 

Shikaku sighs, spinning a shogi piece on its end like a top, before flipping it in the air, and then placing it, “Well then give him a chance, kid. The hokage’s put… restrictions on certain information. Your generation isn’t even supposed to know about it. But it can’t be helped. Do what you think is right.” 

Too pleased that he got more information out of his father than expected, Shikamaru makes a miscalculation, and the game is over. But he has too much to consider now and the game doesn't disappoint him as much as it usually would.

He bows his thanks to his father and fairly scampers out of the room to do some cloudwatching. He misses his father shaking his head and sighing. He has to unravel more of the puzzle of Naruto. 

\---

Shikamaru’s stopped paying attention in class. The first weeks had been some of the most exciting days of his life so far, but he quickly realized how slow the pace would be and how much work it would take, and that excitement drifted off into a haze of mostly napping or reading some manga covertly that Chouji leant him. Sheer boredom (and a few confiscated manga) led him to people-watching. And people-watching led to Naruto. 

Naruto spends too much time pranking and getting kicked out of the class or just ignored entirely by the sensei. Shikamaru wondered why for a long time before he put together the pieces about the demon fox. The adults don’t make a strong effort to conceal their hatred of Naruto, and it doesn’t really take a genius to figure out what they are saying when they whisper about him behind his back on the playground or in the market or when they pick their kids up from school. Shikamaru now appreciates the fact that his dad never participates in the whispering and only stares quietly at offenders until they feel uncomfortable and stop talking. His father sort of has that effect on people.

But once Shikamaru figured out that much, he was entirely surprised by the discovery that Naruto doesn’t even _know_ about the demon fox sealed inside him. He also doesn’t seem to know who his parents are. In fact, it’s pretty suspicious that _no one_ seems to know who Naruto’s parents are. Also, possibly even stranger - Hatake Kakashi, the Copy-nin, can often be found reading books with scandalous covers in trees in very close proximity to Naruto. It can’t be coincidental.

So that leaves Shikamaru with his current predicament. Classes are boring. Training is boring. Naruto is definitely _not_ boring. In fact, Shikamaru thinks that Naruto might actually be the _most_ interesting thing, even more interesting than shogi, and definitely more interesting than academy. So now... now he’s watching Naruto and puzzling over what to do about the nine-tailed fox situation. Surely someone needs to do something about it.

\---

Naruto’s swinging on a swing by himself over lunch. He doesn’t even appear to have a bento, just glumly staring out at the forest, back turned to the other students who sit in circles in the grass. Shikamaru sits down on the ground in the shade next to him and opens his own lunch. His mom always packs extra in case Chouji’s around to steal part of it. Growing up around the Akimichi clan will do that. “Do you want some?” He asks, holding out the open bento.

Naruto’s swing stops, mouth dropping open. “Me?”

Shikamaru shrugs, and pulls out his chopsticks. “Maa, if you don’t want any then…” 

Naruto scrambles off the swing to sit next to him on the grass, eyes huge. Shikamaru offers the bento again, and Naruto carefully selects an onigiri. They eat in unexpected silence, and Shikamaru pretends not to notice when Naruto rubs his eyes with the sleeve of his absurdly orange jacket. Neither of them see the head tilt of the ANBU perched far in the tree above them. 

When they are finished, Naruto jumps up, pointing at Shikamaru. “I’m going to be THE BEST at shuriken, so we need to practice lots, okay?” 

Shikamaru blinks, hand paused in the motion of wrapping his bento. Naruto’s face falters and Shikamaru nods suddenly. “Sure,” he says, and Naruto nearly bounces with delight. 

“Tonight then!” Naruto shouts, running off, before Shikamaru can ask, “But where…?”

The ANBU in the trees huffs a silent laugh.


	2. Chapter 2

Shikamaru’s lying under another tree near some of the training posts, forming familiar hand-signs, tugging at the shadows. He’s not very good at his clan’s jutsu yet, but his father has been teaching him some of the basics. One of the Uchiha kids from his class, Sasuke, is determinedly throwing shuriken at a post over and over, and the sound is lulling him to sleep when Naruto flops down beside him, laying flat on his back.

“I looked for you EVERYWHERE,” Naruto whines, and Shikamaru laughs, letting his hands fall behind his head.

“You didn’t tell me where to meet you, baka,” he says, and Naruto pouts at this, kicking out his legs in a dramatic fashion.

The regular _thunk_ of shuriken hitting wood stops, and purposefully heavy footsteps clomp over to where Naruto and Shikamaru are sprawled out on the training ground. Soon, Shikamaru has an Uchiha-shaped shadow blocking his sunlight.

“Are you guys going to practice or what?” Sasuke says, hands on his hips, and eyes glaring right at Shikamaru. 

Shikamaru sits up, raising an eyebrow at the other boy. “What’s it to you?” 

Sasuke’s glare falters a bit, and he looks to the side, crossing his arms. “I - well my brother is supposed to practice shuriken with me today, but he hasn’t shown up yet… He’s always so busy,” he frowns, kicking at the grass. 

Naruto jumps up, all energy, sullen mood forgotten. “We can practice with you!” 

Sasuke’s glare renewed, he directs it at Naruto, but Naruto apparently has no concept of personal space and throws an arm around Sasuke’s shoulder to drag him back over to the wooden post. Sasuke looks absolutely murderous, but whatever barb he had intended to spit at Naruto was silenced by the sheer weight of Naruto’s happiness. Naruto, it seems, has that sort of effect on people.

Shikamaru watches the two of them momentarily, running his hands through the grass that they had trodden down, and reluctantly stands, too. He’s not one to actually intentionally practice any of the things he’s been learning in class, but maybe it won’t hurt to try just this once.

\---

Sasuke spends at least half of the time talking about how awesome his “Onii-san” is, and the other half berating Naruto for how terrible _he_ is. Shikamaru has to admit that Naruto’s shuriken skills really are terrible though. He wonders how someone with a demon that nearly destroyed Konoha sealed inside his body could possibly be this bad at ninja techniques. The sharp stars go everywhere except into the wooden post he’s actually aiming for, and Shikamaru has had to take cover more than once now. Sasuke’s somehow fast enough to dodge them, and Shikamaru supposes that’s the benefit of having an older brother to sometimes train with. Sasuke rolls his eyes, arms crossed, as Naruto misses yet again. “You’re doing it _all_ wrong,” he says, and Naruto’s face is scrunched in frustration.

“I don’t know how else to do it,” he shouts, and Sasuke pushes him to the side.

“Like this,” Sasuke says, but although his shuriken hits the post, it doesn’t go in all the way, and he frowns at it. Naruto bursts out laughing, and Sasuke blushes, hiding his embarrassment by throwing a few more in quick succession.

Although none of them are particularly great at shuriken, Shikamaru finds himself having a lot of fun anyways. It’s nearly dark by the time they’re done, and Shikamaru turns to grab his bag from beside the tree where he left it earlier as the other two bicker. His breath catches when his eyes meet with those of another ninja, dark and observant, watching them. He’s a few years older, long black hair pulled back neatly, and has the delicate yet somehow sharp features of the Uchiha. 

“Onii-san!” Sasuke shouts, rushing past Shikamaru, and Itachi’s eyes move from meeting Shikamaru’s gaze back to his younger brother who climbs him like he’s a particularly taciturn tree. 

Everyone’s heard rumors about Uchiha Itachi. Jounin already and only a handful of years older. Graduated the Academy in only a year. Both terrifying and amazing. But, Shikamaru notices the small, warm smile as Sasuke settled onto his shoulders, so maybe less terrifying than talk would have it. Itachi nods politely at him and Naruto, “Nara-kun, Uzumaki-kun.” 

Shikamaru bows in return, a bit uncertainly. Naruto scampers up beside him, not bowing or anything but just watching with something that’s probably jealousy.

As Itachi turns to go, Sasuke looks back and waves goodbye. “Let’s meet here again tomorrow,” he shouts, and Shikamaru doesn’t have time to reply because he’s too busy wondering how Itachi even knows who he is. But of course most people know who he is, since he is Shikaku’s son, and his father is very well known throughout the village.

They are already out of sight when Shikamaru snaps back to the present moment and has a series of sudden, panicked realizations. First, he just somehow implicitly agreed to meet up with Sasuke again for shuriken practice tomorrow. Also, _Naruto has nowhere to go_. Shikamaru knows this with a sort of academic logic. He realized it a few weeks ago. Naruto has no parents, no family, no one but the nine-tailed fox demon that possesses him and that he doesn’t even seem to know about.

But it’s quite a different story - knowing these things, that is, and then suddenly spending the day with Naruto, sharing space with him, and wondering what will happen to him after Shikamaru goes home to his secure family compound. 

Naruto’s oddly subdued beside him, scuffing at the ground with his shoes, kicking at the grass. There’s no helping it. _Give him a chance_ , his father had said, and Shikamaru thinks maybe his parents wouldn’t mind having a guest over for dinner.


	3. Chapter 3

When Shikaku had the chat with his son about the nine-tails jinchuuriki, he didn’t expect Shikamaru to be dragging the boy back home with him within the week. But that’s what appears to have happened, if the chattering blonde boy following Shikamaru up to the Nara compound is any indication. Shikaku mutters, “Troublesome,” under his breath and calls to his wife. “Another for dinner.”

She peers out of the kitchen to where he’s standing at the doorway. “Who-” She starts, but Shikaku just shakes his head. 

“It’s the Uzumaki boy,” he says, and her eyes widen slightly, then narrow again. 

“That poor kid,” she says, and calls, “Make sure they both wash up!” as she heads back into the kitchen. 

Shikamaru bows to his father in greeting when he sees him in the doorway, and Naruto looks back and forth between them before giving a messy bow himself. Both boys are covered in dust and look a little worse for wear. Shikaku nods at the two of them and then flicks Shikamaru’s ponytail causing his son to scowl. “I see you brought a guest,” he says, pointedly.

Shikamaru shrugs, sheepish, kicking off his shoes and slipping on the house slippers. He reaches into a cabinet to pull out another child-sized pair for Naruto, setting them down at Naruto’s feet. 

“Shikamaru and I practiced shuriken today, oji-san!” Naruto exclaims, and Shikaku sighs. Obviously no one’s ever taught this kid any manners. He sees his son give Naruto a peculiar look, almost like fondness, and he doesn’t think he’s ever seen anything like that cross Shikamaru’s face before.

“Well come on in and wash up. You can tell us about it over dinner.” He says. Dinner is already proving to be an interesting endeavour.

\---

Shikamaru’s amazed at how much and how fast Naruto can speak while still eating as quickly as he does. Food seems to disappear as soon as it touches his plate, and Shikamaru’s mom actually laughs, offering him another serving. Dinner with his family is usually a much quieter affair. His dad is very quiet by nature, and his mom will question him about his day, but Shikamaru never goes into much detail.

Naruto on the other hand can’t seem to stop giving details. “And then, Sasuke’s brother showed up. And he’s AMAZING! And he practices shuriken with Sasuke after school sometimes, and maybe he will teach us too.”

Shikaku raises an eyebrow at this, “Shuriken, eh, Shikamaru?”

Shikamaru ducks his head, hiding a blush. “We’re going to practice again after school tomorrow, if that’s okay.”

Shikaku looks to his wife who merely smiles at him and then back to Shikamaru, nodding, “As long as you’re getting your homework done, I don’t see what it will hurt.”

Shikamaru helps clear the table after dinner, bringing dishes into the kitchen with his mother and leaving Naruto still chatting happily to his father. “Kaa-san?” He says, and she accepts the dishes from him with a “Hmm?” placing them into the sink.

“Can Naruto stay the night?” He asks, wincing slightly and afraid of the answer. Her hands pause above the dishes, water running for a second, and then she shuts the water off, wiping her hands on a towel. 

She places a hand on the top of Shikamaru’s head, and he blushes. “I’m proud of you,” she says.

He scrunches up his face. “I didn’t do anything,” he retorts, crossing his arms, “And you didn’t answer the question.”

She laughs again, “Of course he can, Shikamaru.” She shoos him out of the kitchen, “Now get back in there.”

\---

Shikamaru and Naruto leave the Nara compound early the next morning to get a change of clothes from Naruto’s apartment. Naruto’s currently wearing some of Shikamaru’s, and the shirt is slipping off his shoulders - Naruto is shorter and also a little too thin. Yoshino sent them both off with bento boxes, and Shikamaru feels a little angry at Konoha after seeing the look Naruto gave her when she handed him his. Neither of them see the ANBU wearing the cat mask following at a careful distance. 

The apartments are run down, and Naruto’s is a small, drafty one up at the top of the building. Shikamaru waits in the doorway, but he can’t miss the styrofoam ramen cups strewn over the floor and the days old milk carton sitting on the table. 

As troublesome and tiring his new friend is, Shikamaru can’t regret sitting down to lunch with Naruto on that first day. If he can make Naruto’s life a little less lonely than it is, it will be worth the effort, he thinks.

\---

Naruto ends up back at the Nara compound that evening, and Shikamaru’s thankful that his parents don’t seem to mind at all. After dinner, they’re hanging out on the stairs outside of the compound, watching the sky grow darker, as Shikamaru likes to do on days like this.

Naruto’s suspiciously quiet, so Shikamaru pokes him with his foot. The other boy looks over at him, eyes a little too wide, a little too bright maybe, and Shikamaru’s heart twists in his chest. And in that moment, he decides. He is going to find some way to tell Naruto. About everything.

“Hey,” he says, and Naruto tilts his head, expression softening a bit with curiosity. Shikamaru feels nervous all of a sudden, and his throat tightens. “I… heard something,” he tries again, “About you…”

And Naruto’s face shutters then, he scrambles backwards on the porch. “You - Shikamaru you can’t,” he says, eyes even wider now, and Shikamaru reaches out a hand, grabbing at his track suit before he can escape. 

“Naruto stop it, I’m not like them.” And Naruto freezes then, his expression crumpling. Tears well over onto his cheeks, and Shikamaru frowns, unsure of how to proceed.

“Naruto do you even know?” He asks finally, and Naruto shakes his head, tears falling freely now.  
  


“NO! I don’t.” He shouts, sobbing now, and Shikamaru pulls his tracksuit again, awkwardly hugging him. “Shikamaru, why’s everyone so mean to me? Why aren’t you mean to me, too?” He sniffles, “Sasuke doesn’t even seem to care, but he’s a baka.”

Shikamaru sighs, “Naruto, you have to listen.” He lets go of Naruto’s tracksuit, but doesn’t push the other boy away. “I’m not even supposed to know this,” he begins, “But since I figured it out, I think you need to know. It’s not fair that you know,” and he can’t help that his fists tighten against his thighs or that he feels tears pricking his eyes too. 

Naruto rubs at his eyes and nods, quieting down. “Okay, Shikamaru, I’m listening,” he says.

“Okay, so… you…” Shikamaru’s throat tightens again, panic rising up inside him at having to be the person to do this. And what kind of messed up village is this that he is the one who has to be the one to do this. But he forces himself to say it finally. “You have the Kyuubi sealed inside of you.”

Naruto’s hands instantly go to his stomach, and Shikamaru knows that’s where the seal is, has seen it when they’ve changed and when they’ve gone swimming. “The demon fox?” Naruto asks, and Shikamaru nods his head, voice rough, “Yes, the demon fox,” he agrees.

Naruto just nods then, and his eyes close for a moment, and Shikamaru wonders what he is doing, and then the shock of it hits him. Naruto’s eyes open again, “I think I can sort of hear him in there,” he says, “Now that I know what to listen for.”

Curiosity overwhelms the difficulty of the task he’s set for himself and he says, nearly choking over the words, “Hear him?”

“Yeah,” Naruto nods, closing his eyes again, palm still pressed against where the seal is on his stomach. “He’s sort of angry all the time, and growly.”

A laugh escapes Shikamaru at that sudden and shocking in its loudness and inappropriateness for the situation. Naruto laughs, too, though, tugging at the hem of his jacket. “It’s kind of silly that I didn’t know. I guess I just always heard it.”

Shikamaru laughs so hard he’s crying then, and that’s how Shikaku finds them later, both laying on the ground, laughing, and looking at the stars.


	4. Chapter 4

Nothing changes with Naruto, or at least, maybe everything continues as it was, in the steady progression of them becoming friends. In fact, shuriken practice with Naruto and Sasuke becomes a daily habit - meeting after school, Naruto and Sasuke goading each other until they end up half-sparring and half truly fighting while Shikamaru sighs and presses his fingers together, trying to figure out what they are doing wrong. 

It’s frustrating because none of them are really getting any better, and Shikamaru finds himself _wanting_ for them to get better. Somehow he wants all of them to succeed - he wants Naruto especially to exceed the expectations the village has set out for him, and it _hurts_ that he can’t figure out what to do to help Naruto with this.

It’s also frustrating that neither Naruto nor Sasuke seem to notice or mind the stagnation that Shikamaru feels. Naruto, of course, has seemingly boundless energy, and Sasuke seems too wrapped up in his idolizing of his older brother and his strange competition he’s started with Naruto to have any sense of anything around himself. Shikamaru thinks maybe, just maybe, he’s expecting too much of all of them. He knows they aren’t going to really learn anything interesting at the Academy for a long time. Students are usually not given the genin test for several years after they’ve started Academy. The years ahead of them seem endlessly boring.

So today when Naruto and Sasuke eventually end up throwing shuriken at each other instead of the post, Shikamaru finds a spot underneath the nearest tree in the shade. He falls back onto the grass, staring up at the leaves swaying in the branches and the clouds peeking through them beyond. He closes his eyes for maybe a moment too long, thinking through the problems at hand but not coming up with a solution. The bickering of Sasuke and Naruto in the background is a familiar and almost comforting noise by now, and so he only opens his when the light changes. Red eyes stare down at him. _Sharingan_ , he thinks, breath catching in his throat, but then the eyes fade to black again, and it’s Sasuke’s older brother, Itachi, above him, his eyes looking normal if a little tired.

“Napping are we, little Nara?” Itachi says, and Shikamaru feels his face heat up, burning hot under the attention of that calculating gaze. Shikamaru’s heard rumors about Itachi - mostly snippets from his father. Itachi is already a jounin and such a young age. He’s only a few years older than they are. And no wonder - Shikamaru’s never seen the legendary Uchiha doujustu before, and he definitely didn't realize that Itachi of all people had it already. 

“Why -” Shikamaru starts, but Itachi waves a hand at him to cut him off.

“Just observing,” he says, sitting down next to Shikamaru, looking over to Naruto and Sasuke, and they both say nothing for a while, watching the two clash head to head, their movements seemingly ineffective for anything but burning off excess energy. Sasuke glances over at Itachi in confusion at one point, but then Naruto yells something halfway incoherent but vaguely insulting-sounding and Sasuke’s eyes snap back to Naruto, and shuriken fly from his fingers to mostly miss the blonde boy. 

“They both have terrible control,” Itachi says finally, and Shikamaru startles again. He knows Itachi noticed the movement, from the side glance and the quirk of his mouth. Itachi’s eyes meet his, “You do as well, of course, but less so perhaps.”

Shikamaru twists his head away in a childish gesture, scowling, “We’re not learning anything interesting in classes,” He complains, but stops when he realizes the implications of Itachi’s statement. He hadn’t really participated in training much today, so Itachi must’ve been watching them before. Shikamaru slants his gaze towards Itachi slyly, “So you have been paying attention.”

Itachi makes a small sound, nothing more than an intake of breath. “You’re more clever than anticipated,” he mutters, and reaches out and pokes Shikamaru on the forehead. Shikamaru splutters, words failing him. The gesture didn’t particularly hurt, but it was unexpected and he rubs at the spot anyways, scowling. From the look on Itachi’s face now, Itachi didn’t quite expect to do it either.

A heavy silence falls between them, Shikamaru running his fingers along the grass, a blush creeping up his cheeks at how childish he feels next to this - this _jounin_ who is barely older than they are. Itachi finally sighs with something that sounds like resignation. “Tree climbing practice,” he says.

“What?” Shikamaru says, risking a glance over at the older boy again. 

Itachi leans back, looking up at the leaves rustling in the tree branches. “I regret… not having more time for Sasuke,” he says, and his voice is heavy. Something that sounds out of place coming from someone so young. 

A moment or two passes, and Itachi pushes himself to his feet. “If you’re all here tomorrow at the same time,” Itachi says, finally, “I’ll get you started on the basics of tree climbing.” He reaches out in a more confident manner and flicks Shikamaru’s ponytail, much like Shikaku does, and that somehow makes Shikamaru’s face burn hotter. Itachi raises a hand to say goodbye to Sasuke, who waves back as Itachi body-flickers away then. Sasuke frowns at the empty space where his brother had been before turning back to his fight with Naruto. 

Shikamaru feels the lack of the other ninja as well. He hates to admit it, but Sasuke’s older brother really is cool.


	5. Chapter 5

Itachi may be young, but he’s not naive - he realizes there isn’t a _good_ way for this mission to end. His father supports his position in Anbu as a way to get information about the village politics that Uchiha have been left out of more recently. The Hokage and Danzo want to use him as a way to spy on the Uchiha and report back any suspicious activity. When it all comes to a head, he’ll either be a traitor to his clan or his village. Take your pick. But in the end, he thinks he’s probably willing to give himself up for the greater good. He hasn’t given that part much thought, really, although he tries to be a loyal shinobi to his village above everything else. At least in all of this, he does have Shisui who seems to support him unconditionally. 

The clan tensions seem to run higher every day, and the village gets more and more suspicious of the Uchiha. At this point, it seems like a matter of _when_ instead of _if_. So when it comes down to it, he’s just trying to do his best to keep the fragile peace for as long as he can, and trying to find a solution in a situation where it doesn’t seem like there is one that would satisfy either side. And what really worries him most in all of this is what will happen to Sasuke when the fallout occurs.

So this is how he ends up waiting in a tree on the training grounds on a Friday afternoon for the three younger boys to get out of class. He frowns thinking about what he was like at their age. It wasn’t that long ago, but he graduated Academy in only a year. The youngest ever to graduate, and second highest scores to only the Fourth Hokage himself. Sasuke isn’t anywhere close to being on the same path. There’s some darkness lacking in him that always drove Itachi.

But the Nara kid, Shikamaru… he is a different story altogether. Maybe the darkness is missing, but there’s a sharpness there that Itachi hasn’t seen in anyone else. To an unobservant eye, Shikamaru seems lazy and unmotivated, and okay, maybe he is those things - but Itachi is not unobservant, and he has found Shikamaru to be extremely clever, especially considering his age.

Itachi doesn't know a lot about the Nara clan, other than the fact that Shikamaru’s father, Shikaku, is widely considered to be the smartest man in the village. And from what Itachi can tell, his son is following in his footsteps. Shikamaru notices more than is probably good for a kid of his age, and although his ninja skills are nothing exceptional right now, the kid is sharp, and Itachi can work with that.

For example, Itachi knows that Shikamaru randomly decided to befriend the Kyuubi’s jinchuuriki a few weeks after Academy started. Itachi, of course, has his suspicions as to why this happened, but since it happened, the two have been inseparable, to the point that Itachi’s pretty sure Naruto is living with the Naras now. Shikamaru’s been an excellent addition to Naruto’s life, and Itachi thinks Sasuke could use the same sort of influence. If nothing else, it would be good to have friends for Sasuke to fall back on if Itachi himself can’t be there in the future. 

The younger boys arrive on time in the designated spot, and Itachi slips from the tree to greet them. Shikamaru’s eyes meet his and then glance away in an embarrassed sort of gesture, and Itachi files that away for future reference, but merely nods hello.

Naruto is practically vibrating with excitement. “Itachi-nii! Itachi-nii!” Naruto shouts, and Sasuke fixes him with a glare.

“He’s not _your_ brother,” Sasuke says, and Itachi reaches out to ruffles his hair, quieting him. Sasuke sticks his tongue out at him.

“Are you really going to teach us how to walk up _trees_?” Naruto continues, completely ignoring Sasuke and breathless with excitement. 

Itachi smiles softly at that, “Of course, Naruto-kun. It’s a basic technique for any good ninja, and I think it will help in your sparring matches with Sasuke, here.”

That seems to have been the right thing to say, because Naruto is even more fired up now, and is staring at him with an intensity that Itachi’s sure he’s never given his schoolteachers. Something warm blossoms in Itachi’s chest, something he hasn’t felt for years.

He begins by explaining the basic principles of chakra to them, the yin and yang energies that need to be mixed together and focused in the feet. He’s pretty sure Shikamaru is the only one out of the three of them who really understand, because Sasuke has a very carefully blank look across his face and Naruto looks openly confused.

“It will come with practice,” Itachi says finally, giving up on the lecture part of the training and gesturing to the tree. “I want you to run up the tree and make a mark with your kunai to see how far you get.”

“Yosh!” Naruto shouts, and immediately runs at the tree without a second thought. He doesn’t get very far before the bark under his foot shatters and he loses his footing. He manages to get a kunai mark on the tree before falling completely though.

“Tch,” Sasuke says, “I’ll show you how it’s done,” and runs at another tree next to Naruto’s. He does make it a little further but not by much, and his kunai gets stuck in the tree where he scrambled to make the cut before falling. When he lands on the forest floor, his face is nearly sharingan red. 

Shikamaru grins at him, but says nothing, and Itachi shakes his head, then motions for Shikamaru to go as well. He makes it up to the first level of branches easily before marking the tree and then sliding back down. The other two boys turn to him, eyes wide.

“Shika! How did you do that?” Naruto shouts, and Shikamaru shrugs.

“I just did what Itachi-sensei said to do.”

Itachi feels something warm run through him at the “sensei” tacked onto the end of his name. He pushes it aside deciding now would be a good time to extract himself from the situation. “Just keep practicing, you two. You’ll get the hang of it eventually, and Shikamaru can give you some hints if not.” He makes his goodbyes and body-flickers away, feeling like he’s running from something but unable to pinpoint what exactly.

\---

They keep practicing tree-climbing long after Itachi leaves. Hours later when dusk creeps over the horizon, they are all laying on the ground in various states of exhaustion, covered in dirt and grass from falling many, many times. Shikamaru hates to admit it, but he feels inordinately pleased to see his kunai mark, higher than any of the other ones. He can’t wait to see Itachi again to show him how far they’ve progressed in only one evening.

Naruto, on the other hand, is rolling around on the ground groaning, and Sasuke is staring up at the sky blankly, kunai still gripped tightly in his hand beside him. Shikamaru thinks it’s all time for them to head home. He kicks at Naruto’s feet, but Naruto just whines at him. “Shikamaru… how will I be the next Hokage if I can’t even walk up a tree?”

Shikamaru rolls his eyes, “Come on, Naruto,” he says, kicking at his foot again. “Let’s go home. My mom will have food waiting for us. Tomorrow’s Saturday, so we can practice more then.”

Naruto perks up a little bit at this, and sits up, rubbing dirt off his face with a bright orange sleeve. “Really?” He says, and Shikamaru nods, half mournful about the loss of his weekends that were once spent laying about watching clouds or playing shogi with his father. And yet part of him is also excited to spend the time practicing and see how much farther they can get.

Sasuke sits up too then, scowling and glaring at them both, “Why do you guys always get to hang out together? I want to go.”

The announcement surprises Shikamaru, because he had started to think of them as a single unit - a team, even. So he hadn’t even considered the possibility of Sasuke _not_ joining them. “Of course you can come, too, Sasuke,” Shikamaru says, “You can meet us at the Nara compound.” 

Sasuke nods at this, determined, and gets to his feet. “Good. I don’t want that baka to be able to do it before I do.”

Naruto sticks his tongue out at him in reply, and Shikamaru can’t repress the smile that stretches across his face. Maybe he will miss the old weekends, but he’s also excited about this new turn of events, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops, Friday totally snuck past me. ^^;;


	6. Chapter 6

Sasuke, it seems, is up much earlier than usual this morning, Fugaku thinks, as his youngest son greets him and hurries to put shoes on. It’s not even an Academy class day, which makes it all the more unusual in and of itself. He is very proud of both of his children, but out of the two of them, Sasuke has never shown as much drive as Itachi, and only seems interested at following close at Itachi’s heels (but maybe not close enough to put in the effort to actually surpass him). So this morning is peculiar indeed. 

Fugaku watches from the hall as Mikoto places a hand on Sasuke’s shoulder and a kiss on top of his head that he brushes off with all of the grace of someone who thinks he’s getting to be too old for such things. She merely laughs, and sets a bento in his lap as he finishes putting on his shoes, and he looks up at her gratefully, smiling.

“Don’t get into too much trouble, okay?” She says, and he nods to her, and then seeing Fugaku, he stands up and bows deeper. Fugaku nods in acknowledgement, and then Sasuke’s out the door.

“Itachi,” Fugaku calls, and Itachi peers his head out from the kitchen where he was finishing breakfast, giving him a questioning look.

“Sasuke’s spending a lot of time with the jinchuuriki and the Nara kid,” Fugaku says, frowning, and Itachi merely nods, allowing his father to continue.

“I don’t think it’s harmful but… keep an eye on him,” is all he says, and dismisses him. Surely Itachi can handle whatever the kid’s getting into, and if not, Fugaku trusts Itachi’s judgement.

\---

Itachi takes his father’s words as an implicit order to follow Sasuke. Although Sasuke had a head start, Itachi catches up easily, and remains a few steps behind and too silent for the young academy student to notice. And if there’s a very small part of him that’s also eager to meet up with the three younger boys again, he buries that deep within himself and concentrates on the mission at hand. So when Shisui appears at his side in that abrupt manner of his, running along the treetops with him, Itachi has a moment of nearly jumping out of his skin before slanting his eyes towards his friend.

“Shisui,” he says, in a calm voice that he’s sure won’t fool Shisui one bit.

Shisui laughs, “What are we doing this morning, Itachi, spying on little Sasuke-kun?”  
  
Itachi’s face heats for a number of reasons, but mainly because of how true it is and how ridiculous it sounds. He nods anyways and at least gets the satisfaction of Shisui’s eyes widening.

“Really?” Shisui breathes, as they reach the outskirts of the Nara compound. “What on earth has Sasuke gotten involved in? He’s barely been at the Academy for a few weeks now.”

Itachi makes a hand sign to motion for Shisui to be quiet as they enter the Nara lands. They are not exactly intruders, but they are also not invited guests. Plus Itachi really doesn’t want to explain the situation. Shisui merely smiles, half amused and half intrigued, and continues following along until Sasuke stops at the jounin commander’s house.

\---

Shikaku simply raises an eyebrow at Shikamaru when the youngest kid of the Uchiha clan head shows up bright and early on Saturday morning. Shikamaru shrugs, shuffling his feet and grabs the bentos his mom made for him and Naruto on the way out the door. Naruto runs past, hopping ahead of Shikamaru, shuffling into his shoes faster than should be possible, and yelling, “Good morning ojii-san!!! We’re off!” on his way out. 

Shikaku shakes his head, then, laughing at the boys. He can’t complain - it seems like Shikamaru’s had more energy in him these past few weeks, likely due to the little blonde whirlwind’s influence. That boy is a terror, but not in the way that the villagers think. He’s careless, unintentionally rude, and very short on attention, but he puts 100% into everything he does, which is something Shikamaru has never done. Shikaku thinks that there are worse things that Shikamaru could be doing on a Saturday than hanging out with the Uzumaki kid. 

But the Uchiha boy is another story altogether. The Uchiha have been distancing themselves from the rest of the village, and there are still rumors, six years later, about what actually happened on the night of the Kyuubi attack. Shikamaru can’t imagine that a kid like Sasuke has anything other than the intentions of a child when reaching out in friendship to the Kyuubi’s newest jinchuriki, but Shikaku thinks it would be best to keep an eye on the whole situation. (And maybe inform Hiruzen of the new friendships that seemed to be forming among this year’s batch of Academy students, if he wasn’t aware already.)

Troublesome indeed.

\---

Shisui feels helplessly curious when he realizes that his younger cousin is stalking his younger brother to watch said brother and some other baby ninjas do tree-climbing training. Why a bunch of first year Academy students are even doing tree-climbing training would usually be anyone’s best guess, but Shisui knows Itachi probably had a hand in it. Which really begs the question of why Itachi is bothering to stalk them in the first place if he’s the one who started all of this. 

After a moment or two of consideration as they continue to follow the younger boys through the Nara forests, he decides to take the direct approach. He flips Itachi’s ponytail up, getting quite the glare in return.

“What?” Itachi hisses under his breath, and Shisui muffles a giggle. His little cousin is oh-so-serious. The younger boys stop in a clearing so Shisui and Itachi do as well, blending into the shadows of the treetops.

“Oh, it’s just a little ridiculous the level of secrecy we’re going to here to watch a handful of academy students doing some training exercises that are probably above their paygrade.” Shisui says, rolling his eyes. 

Itachi frowns at him, pointing down to the bunch. “ _That_ ,” he says pointing to Naruto, “is the Kyuubi jinchuriki. And _he_ ,” pointing to Shikamaru now, “is the son of the commander of the jounin forces.”

Shisui gives Itachi a disappointed look. “Sure, Itachi, but they’re all just _kids_. It’s not like they’re planning a village takeover. In fact, I can’t imagine how they even know to do tree-climbing training unless you had a hand in helping them get started.”

Itachi blushes at that, and if Shisui didn’t know him so well, he probably would’ve missed it entirely. Shisui’s eyes gleam with amusement knowing he’s exactly on target. “In fact…” he says, “I think they could probably use a little more assistance.” And before Itachi can say otherwise, Shisui body-flickers away, enjoying Itachi’s cut-off curse of frustration before suddenly appearing in the very tree that the Nara kid had been climbing.

Shisui has to admit he’s fairly impressed to see that the younger boy doesn’t immediately fall at the shock of another ninja appearing there. But then again, Shikaku is considered to be the smartest man in the village, and it would follow that his son might be a young genius as well.

The jinchuriki kid, however, does fall landing hard on the grass, and shouts, “Hey! Who are you?”

And Sasuke, paying too much attention to Naruto and not enough attention to the rest of his surroundings, predictably also falls, and then yells at Naruto, “Baka, that’s just Shisui.”

Naruto looks from Sasuke to Shisui, confused. “Do you have another brother?”

Shisui laughs gleefully at this - causing chaos is a favorite pastime after all - and Itachi visibly gives up, entire being slumping in defeat in the tree across the clearing. He body-flickers over to Shisui as well and glares grumpily, obviously losing some of his cool senpai points in front of the kids by being caught spying. Shisui pulls Itachi’s ponytail for effect, and Itachi’s glare increases.

“Nope, I’m just a friend,” he says. He immediately points to Shikamaru, who is still somehow managing to cling to the tree with his chakra. “Your tree climbing skills are impressive for your age, Nara-kun.”

Shikamaru looks down at his feet and promptly falls out of the tree, the surprise of finding himself still sticking to it breaking his concentration. He sticks his tongue out at Shisui from his newly found spot on the forest floor. Shisui body-flickers again, dancing along the tree branches, throwing a few shuriken at the younger boys. Nothing too intense, but enough to test their reflexes. Again, all three boys fare better than expected. Although there are glaring omissions, given their age and probable level of experience they are probably the top of their class, or close to it at this point. Shisui would be surprised to find anyone who could outmatch them among the first years, and he has this thrill run along his spine as he realizes their potential, and that maybe given a few months of training, with persistence, they could probably outclass most other Academy students.

“Wow, Itachi, you didn’t tell me you found such interesting ducklings.” He teases and cracks his knuckles. “Alright boys, I don’t know what Itachi’s been teaching you, but how about a real jounin show you some new tricks?”

Shikamaru merely looks at him skeptically, but both Naruto and Sasuke look up at him with a sort of hero worship that he could really get used to. Itachi was always one step ahead, and Shisui could barely teach him anything that he didn’t know already. But these three… they are like fresh clay, and now that he has found them, Shisui wants to make something interesting out of them.

He’s sure Itachi sees the manic gleam in his eyes, if the worried look that crosses his face is any indication, but he also doesn’t care, because this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and he isn’t going to pass this up.


	7. Chapter 7

Shisui is, Itachi decides, a terrible influence. Granted, on some level, Itachi understands the impulse. On the first day that he found Shikamaru and Naruto all practicing with Sasuke, he had merely went out looking for his younger brother, feeling mildly guilty at having forgotten to meet up with him for shuriken practice. He figured Sasuke was probably sulking somewhere and was quite surprised to find him seemingly enjoying himself with two of his classmates. And the classmates themselves, of course, were also an interesting factor in the equation. 

Seeing all three of them together, personalities clashing, he felt… something. Their bonds especially at first are tenuous at best. Naruto is overly brash and too confident with nothing to back it up with. Sasuke’s always searching for affirmation, which Itachi guiltily realizes is mostly his fault. Shikamaru is easily bored and inherently lazy. Somehow it shouldn’t work, but even with all of this, there’s still some element that _does_. All of the extremes in their personalities form a give and take that works out the balance in the end. And Itachi can’t help but feel drawn to them. So it’s not all that surprising that Shisui feels the same way.

But Shisui is possibly encouraging them _too_ much, and Itachi feels a sense of ownership towards them, that he knows he probably doesn’t deserve. He finds pride in the fact that they are learning absurdly fast, already able to tree climbing exercises remarkably well for first years after a week of practice.

When they meet again in the clearing, a week after the group tree climbing practice, Shikamaru’s scaling the trees effortlessly, and Sasuke and Naruto are only having mild difficulties that can be trained out of them with more practice. Shisui nods in approval at the demonstrations and gives Itachi a sly look. “Maa, Itachi, they are already so good at this - you really need to teach them your shadow clone trick,” he says, and Itachi finds three pairs of intensely curious eyes pinned on him suddenly.

Itachi clears his throat, feeling hesitant, but Shikamaru tilts his head, pressing his fingers together in that way that he does when he’s starting to think through a puzzle, and Itachi just knows that out of the three of them, Shikamaru would definitely be able to pull it off. It’s crossing a major line somewhere to teach a forbidden shadow clone technique to first year academy students, but if he learned it at their age, shouldn’t they get the same chance?

And this is why Shisui is a terrible influence. Because when Itachi says that he graduated Academy in a year with Shisui’s help, he means that he spent all of the time that he should’ve been in classes training with Shisui while a shadow clone attended Academy for him.

Itachi’s pretty sure that Shisui can sense his internal battle, because Shisui’s nodding at him in an encouraging manner, and then Naruto says, “Shadow clones? I want to learn a ninja technique!”

And then Shikamaru finally looks up again, an amused light in his eyes grins. “Itachi, is this how you graduated so quickly?” He asks point-blank, and Shisui gives an approving whistle.

“This one’s sharp, Itachi,” Shisui says, flicking Shikamaru’s ponytail, and Shikamaru rolls his eyes.

Itachi glares back at Shisui, but it’s too late, because somehow this became Shisui’s show, and now he can’t avoid the explanation, and if he’s honest, he really doesn’t want to. He feels like he’s outside of himself watching helplessly as he begins explaining the technique to the younger boys, and he curses himself, because knowing the Nara’s lazy streak, he wouldn’t be surprised if the younger boy never attended Academy again.

Once they get to actually practicing, and Shikamaru manages to make a perfect clone after only a handful of attempts, Itachi pulls Shisui aside and hisses, “We’re creating three little monsters.”

Shisui just smiles right back at him with lots of teeth, and says, “Yes, Itachi, but they are _our_ little monsters. Think of the _possibilities_.”

Itachi thinks about the possibilities, and he finds himself really liking them. Naruto and Sasuke look over at them and they are grinning too, awfully sharp and feral for kids of their young impressionable age, Shikamaru merely looks contemplative, and Itachi wonders what he could’ve done in a past life to deserve any of this.

\---  


Shadow Clone training goes frighteningly well. Technically it’s a forbidden jutsu, and none of them should ever really be learning it, but Itachi consoles himself that since he also learned to do it when he was their age, he might as well give them a fair chance. Plus it's… fun, Itachi decides, and it's a feeling he hasn't experienced for a very long time. Training with Sasuke, Naruto, and Shikamaru is nothing like training with his ANBU team. On this team, he's finally _not_ the youngest member, and if anyone's the captain here, it's probably either him or Shisui. Plus they’re all so excited about everything, and there’s no terrible pressure here, and Shikamaru is absolutely brilliant. And on some level he realizes that they are all going to be in so much trouble if anyone ever finds out, but he also can't bring himself to care for once, and there’s another feeling he hasn’t felt recently if ever. 

He doesn’t really have time to think about the repercussions of all of their actions when Naruto surprises them by being able to make 100 perfect clones after only a few days of practice. Shisui nearly falls out of the tree when the forest fills with Naruto clones, and Sasuke _really_ doesn’t like the fact that he’s only able to manage one. But Itachi merely pokes Sasuke’s forehead and tells him that he’ll teach Sasuke a special Uchiha-only jutsu later, which mollifies him somewhat. 

And he definitely doesn’t have time to think about the future when, even after further practice, Naruto can’t manage to make fewer than ten clones. So then, Itachi determines that it’s time to teach them how to walk on water, which is a more advanced form of chakra control. Shisui nods thoughtfully in agreement, none of them saying that Naruto needs the chakra control more than anyone given his demon companion.

And at some point, Itachi does realize that he’s spreading himself too thin, and maybe he’s starting to push them all too hard, but the weeks fly by, and the feeling he gets when even Naruto can manage a single, perfect clone after the water training, and the smile that lights up Sasuke’s face when he finally manages the Grand Fireball jutsu is worth all of the effort of teaching them. And everything else, too. And Shikamaru. Itachi has no words for how fast Shikamaru’s improving. He’s outstriping all of them easily, perhaps less naturally talented but definitely smarter than Itachi was at his age. 

Itachi finds himself thinking more often about what he else can teach them, how they would work together as a team, and he startles himself, realizing that he’s been thinking like he’s building his own little four person squad. Surely it’s unnecessary, and he’s overthinking the situation, but sometimes between all of the conflicting interests and his own status as a double agent, it feels like a wire is being pulled tight, wrapping tightly across his body, across the village, and at some point soon, something will give.

Even if he didn’t want this life for Sasuke, even if he wanted something different for him - he consoles himself that what Sasuke has _is_ different, especially in the moments where the three younger boys are all laughing together over Naruto falling into the lake again, looking like the children they really are. And meeting Shisui’s eyes in these moments, he knows Shisui feels the same way.

Shisui flips up his ponytail as Sasuke and Shikamaru haul Naruto out of the lake. “Three little monsters, eh?” Shisui says, and Itachi finds himself smiling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so apparently I'm chronically incapable of posting updates in a timely manner on Fridays? I might switch to Wednesdays, so there might be an early chapter this week. We'll see how my schedule goes. :3

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!! You can also find me on tumblr at [PastaAfterDark](https://pastaafterdark.tumblr.com/). ♥︎


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